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About The Matt Gonzalez Reader

Art & Politics: The Matt Gonzalez Reader collects various interviews, opinion editorials, and other writings by Matt Gonzalez on issues related to art and politics, many of which are no longer in print or otherwise available online. The postings here are reprinted from their original place of publication which included:

Matt Gonzalez was born in McAllen, Texas. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Stanford Law School. He is a former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and served as Ralph Nader’s vice-presidential running mate in 2008 on an Independent ticket (in California, they won the nomination of the Peace & Freedom Party). Gonzalez has worked as the Chief Attorney in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office since early 2011.

In 2014, Gonzalez began exhibiting his artwork with Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco. His collage works are in the permanent collection of the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; and, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Since 2018 his imprint, fmsbw, has published a series of poetry books The Page Poets Series.

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10 comments

you should seriously considering running for mayor, a house seat, senate, state senate, something big. i would definitely vote for you. remembering last years pres campaigns , i saw democrats and republicans. they were there own shows, but you spoke honestly.

Dear Mat Gonzalez,
Hello! I am sorry to bother you in the office, but I couldn’t find out any other way but write to this address.
I’ve read a book about your mayoral campaign in San Francisco 2003.: The Political Edge edited by Chris Carlsson and very impressed by the way you organized your campaign in the mayoral election of San Francisco 2003: how you drew out spontaneous civil power deeply rooted subculture and daily life of the people. And I am also very inspired by yourself being a politician and art critique at the same time.
I am a researcher in Japan specialized in aesthetics. But I have been more interested in arts outside the museum and galleries than inside. I agree the idea of “Social Sculpture” by German Artist Josepf Beuys that the society itself is the ultimate material of art. By the way, the idea of social sculpture has already existed in the diary of Van Gogh, although Josepf Beuys is believed to have credit for it.
My main focus is on the dynamic relationship between politics, art and community. Teaching in a local university, I organize a community gallery at home voluntary. The place is not only to present and exhibit works of local artists, but also to organize meetings in which neighbors discuss about local social and environmental issues, the visions how our community should be, and so on. By doing so, I am trying to prove the “public happiness” (in the sense of Hanna Arendt, happiness people feel when they work and express themselves freely not for their own sake, but for the public, trying to make the world better place), true creativity, and deep sense of community have a same root. I want to form a theory and write a book about it.
It seems to me that you have a lot of precious and valuable experience in this area.
I am making a trip to the US. and I will be around Bay Area from March 8- 28. Could I interview you for an hour or so during the days? I would appreciate very much for your time. If it is all right for you, please let me know when and where I could have the talk. It will contribute great deal for my theory and research, if I could interview you.
If you know any other people whom you think I should meet, please let me know. I will greatly appreciate for it. This research is funded by Japan Society for Promotion of Science. The interview will be one of the most important part of the book which I am writing and going to be published in three years.
Makiko Horita (female)
Associate Professor of Research Faculty of Media and Communication, Hokkaido University North 17, West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0817
Tel/Fax +0081 11 706 5390

Are you really taking on corruption in San Francisco??? Has lightning struck twice in the same place? I can hardly believe it, its like a savior to those have been beaten by the corruption of SF politics and the connectedness of the players (City Attorney Herrera, Controller Ed Harrington, Gavin, Ed Lee, Willie Brown and their minions) Why didn’t you run again Matt, damn it you were the one. I was glad to see you return to in Public Defenders Office. Man, are you needed. Matt, I have written Jeff Adachi on issues of corruption and whistleblower complaint, as you might imagine, it was completed ignored or rather dismissed becdause it couldn’t be ignored just swept under the carpet of corruption. Please Help!!

Matt, thaks for your web. I have a question concerning picture of Walter Serner, dada writer from Czech republic. The picture I am speaking about was used with article THE LAST LOOSENING MANIFESTO two years ago. I would like to use this picture within our acitivities – is there any larger version of the picture. Thanks a lot. Greeting from Prague. Vaclav

Your collage suggest that you still have Green on your mind. What do you think of Jill Stein? She is working hard on party building and seems to be articulate and committed candidate who is not sleep walking or divisive.Would you consider, if asked, to run on her ticket (unofficial inquiry).